Bulletin of Insectology 65 (2): 291-295, 2012 ISSN 1721-8861 Records of Ceroplastes Gray 1828 in Europe, with an identification key to species in the Palaearctic Region Kinga FETYKÓ, Ferenc KOZÁR Department of Zoology, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary Abstract The genus Ceroplastes (Hemiptera Coccoidea Coccidae) in Europe is reviewed. Surveys of Hungarian nurseries, greenhouses and flower shops found plants infested with Ceroplastes scale insects. Among them, Ceroplastes rubens Maskell 1893 was identified. Since there is constant invasion of European markets by species of Ceroplastes, a key is presented to separate the species cur- rently known to occur in the Palaearctic Region. Key words: wax scales, introduced pests, distribution, taxonomy, Palaearctic Region, Hungary, identification key. Introduction has been recorded also from China, Egypt, Japan and South Korea (Ben-Dov et al., 2012). The establishment of several invasive scale insects The aim of the present work was to study the Cero- (Hemiptera Coccoidea) has been reported in Europe in plastes species in Central Europe and to construct an the last years (Pellizzari and Germain, 2010; Pellizzari identification key to those known from the Palaearctic and Kozár, 2011; Fetykó and Szita, 2012). This has in- Region. creased the number of species established outdoors, in greenhouses and on house plants. The increase in the number of species of the genus Materials and methods Ceroplastes Gray 1828 (Hemiptera Coccoidea Coccidae Ceroplastinae) in the Palaearctic region is remarkable. A survey was conducted between 2006 and 2012 in According to the ScaleNet database (Ben-Dov et al., some Central European greenhouses, botanical gardens, 2012) 13 species have been recorded from the Palaearc- nurseries and on house plants; 75 samples of scale in- tic Region, 8 of them from Europe. Seven species are sects were collected and studied in the laboratory. The established outdoors in several southern Mediterranean specimens were slide-mounted according to method countries, and some have been recorded from indoors in given by Kosztarab and Kozár (1988) and have been Central and Northern Europe. deposited in the scale insect collection of the Plant Pro- In Italy, the invasive Ceroplastes japonicus Green was tection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hun- recorded in 1984 and Ceroplastes ceriferus (F.) in 2001 garian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary (PPI). (Kozár et al., 1984; Mori et al., 2002). Then C. japoni- In this paper we follow the nomenclature of Ben-Dov cus started to spread to other European countries like et al. (2012). Terminology used in the key follows Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Slovenia and Turkey (Panis, mostly that used by Gimpel et al. (1974), Williams and 1981; Pellizzari and Camporese, 1994; Jancar et al., Watson (1990), Ben-Dov et al. (2000), and Hodgson 1999; Foldi, 2001; Mori et al., 2002, Masten-Milek et and Peronti (2012). Detailed descriptions with useful al., 2007; Kaydan and Kondo, 2008; Trencheva et al., drawings can be found in works of Gimpel et al. (1974), 2010). In Hungary, Ceroplastes rusci (L.) was found on Hodgson and Peronti (2012), Pellizzari and Camporese Ficus spp. before 1917 (Kozár, 2005); Ceroplastes (1994), Tang (1991), and Williams and Watson (1990). hodgsoni (Matile-Ferrero et Le Ruyet) was found on A detailed new taxonomic illustration of C. japonicus Ficus benjamina L. plants in a greenhouse (Kozár, was published in Kaydan and Kondo (2008), and photo- 2005). The Hungarian scale insect fauna in indoor and graphs of C. rubens were provided by Kondo (2008). outdoor conditions has been treated in detail (Kosztarab and Kozár, 1988; Kozár, 2005; Fetykó and Szita, 2012). In Europe, Ceroplastes stellifer (Westwood) sensu Results and discussion Peronti et al., 2008 (= Vinsonia stellifera Westwood) is known only from interception records (Jansen, 1995; The species of Ceroplastes known from the Palaearctic Pellizzari and Russo, 2005). The polyphagous Cero- are listed in table 1. In Central Europe (Hungary), the plastes rubens Maskell has been intercepted by quaran- first report of the genus Ceroplastes was C. rusci on tine services in UK and Netherlands (Jansen, 1995; Ficus spp. in the middle of the country (Simontornya, 2004; Malumphy, 2010); a Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) before 1917) (Kozár, 1989); however, no voucher was prepared by Malumphy (2011), which showed the specimens of this record are known. In 1994, F. ben- world-wide distribution of this species in both tropical jamina plants infected with C. hodgsoni were found in and Mediterranean countries. In the Palaearctic region it a Hungarian greenhouse; the infestation was probably Table 1. A list of Ceroplastes species recorded from the Palaearctic Region. Distribution Species Habitat References *Remarks in the Palaearctic Region Ceroplastes actiniformis Canary Islands, Egypt, Israel Outdoor species Ben-Dov et al. (2012) 1 Green 1896 Ceroplastes centroroseus China Outdoor species Ben-Dov et al. (2012) Chen 1974 Ceroplastes Intercepted several times in North Mori et al. (2002) Canary Islands, China, Italy, Japan, ceriferus Europe; Outdoor pest species in Pellizzari et al. (2004) 2 (F. 1798) Netherlands, UK the Mediterranean region Ben-Dov et al. (2012) Malumphy and Badmin (2012) Ceroplastes cirripediformis Greece, Italy Outdoor species Ben-Dov et al. (2012) Comstock 1881 Ceroplastes cistudiformis UK In greenhouse Malumphy (2010) 3 Cockerell 1893 Ceroplastes destructor UK (eradicated) In botanical collection Malumphy (2010) Newstead 1910 Ceroplastes eugeniae Algeria (Sahara Central) On Asclepiadaceae Hodgson and Peronti (2012) 4 Hall 1931 Azores, China, Canary Islands, Crete, Kozár et al. (1996) Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Malumphy (2010) Ceroplastes Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Outdoor species in the southern floridensis zone of the Palaearctic Region, Franco et al. (2011) Comstock 1881 Libya, Madeira Islands, Malta, often intercepted in UK Ben-Dov et al. (2012) Netherlands, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Hodgson and Peronti (2012) Tunis, Turkey Ceroplastes hodgsoni (Matile-Ferrero et Le Hungary In greenhouse Kozár (2005) 5 Ruyet 1985) Armenia, Bulgaria, China [(Henan (=Honan) Shanxi (=Shansi)], Croatia, Outdoor species in Oriental and Pellizzari and Camporese (1994) Ceroplastes Palaearctic regions, intercepted Malumphy (2010) japonicus France, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, 6 Netherlands, Russia, (Caucasus), several times in UK; found in a Ben-Dov et al. (2012) Green 1921 Slovenia, South Korea, UK (England, nursery in Hungary Klupács and Volent (2012) eradicated) Ceroplastes kunmingensis China Outdoor species Ben-Dov et al. (2012) (Tang et Xie in Tang 1991) Ceroplastes pseudoceriferus China [Xizang (=Tibet)], Japan Outdoor species Ben-Dov et al. (2012) 7 Green 1921 Outdoor species, intercepted and found in greenhouses in Ceroplastes China [Henan (=Honan), Shanxi Jansen (2004) rubens (=Shansi), Xizang (=Tibet)], Egypt, Netherlands; and several times Malumphy (2010) 8 intercepted in recent years in the Maskell 1893 Japan, South Korea UK; now found in a nursery in Ben-Dov et al. (2012) Hungary Albania, Afghanistan, Algeria, Azores, Canary Islands, Corsica, Crete, Croatia, Kozár (1989; 2005) Ceroplastes Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Outdoor species in the Kozár et al. (1996) rusci Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Libya, Mediterranean region, often Lebanon, Madeira Islands, Malta, Malumphy (2010) 9 (L. 1758) intercepted in UK Franco et al. (2011) Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Ben-Dov et al. (2012) Sardinia, Saudi Arabia, Sicily, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey Azores, Canary Islands, Corsica, Crete, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Georgia, Ceroplastes Greece, Iran, Italy, Netherlands, Madeira Outdoor species in the southern Malumphy (2010) sinensis zone of the Palaearctic Region, Franco et al. (2011) Del Guercio 1900 Islands, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, often intercepted in UK Ben-Dov et al. (2012) Russia (Caucasus), Sardinia, Sicily, Spain, Turkey Ceroplastes Introduced in Italy, and Jansen (1995; 2004) stellifer Italy, Netherlands; UK (eradicated) intercepted in the Netherlands Malumphy (2010) (Westwood 1871) and UK Ben-Dov et al. (2012) Ceroplastes xishuangensis China Outdoor species Ben-Dov et al. (2012) Tang et Xie in Tang 1991 *Remarks: 1) According to Hodgson and Peronti (2012) all African material deposited in the BMNH are misidentifications, so its presence in Mediterranean is questionable. These specimens are probably Ceroplastes rusci; 2) The spread in Central Europe is likely; 3) Probably died out (Malumphy, 2010); 4) The identity of this record is not clear (Hodgson and Peronti, 2012); 5) Probably died out; 6) The spread in Central Europe is likely; 7) The mention of C. pseudoceriferus in the Checklist of Korean insects, probably represents a misidentification of C. ceriferus. Lee et al. (2012) examined 143 specimens labelled as C. pseudoceriferus, deposited at the National Academy of Agricultural Science, Korea and determined that they were actually C. ceriferus; 8) Dekle (2001) mentioned this species from Italy, also; 9) The establishment in Hungary was not verified. 292 successfully eradicated. C. japonicus was recorded on distribution of species in the southern zone of the Palae- Ilex sp. in a Hungarian nursery by Klupács and Volent arctic region; and a great number of introduction records (2012). Recently, C. rubens was collected on Schefflera are known, especially